TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012: WOODLANDS, 7AM
Island duty was, as far as Gordon Gladney was concerned, the best gig in the game. It was calm. Didn't involve a lot of heavy lifting. Didn't involve much getting shot at, by and large. Him and his boys, they were the weirdos of SOTF, the adventurers and campers and woodsmen, in a group dominated by fighters and geeks. Gordon had been an urban explorer way back in the 1990s, one of the earlier ones to establish an internet foothold. He'd had all sorts of pictures of Battleship Island, and one day a man had called him, said he might have a job for someone like Gordon. Since then, he'd been one of the main people in charge of finding the locations for each game, picking places that had a good mix of structures and that weren't known enough to be immediately recognized. Everything else—the combat training, the friendships with his crew, the modus operandi of their little branch of the organization—had come later.
He was head of one of two island teams, each one consisting of three men hauling around bags full of weapons and equipment. He'd been working with Spence and Adrian since before there'd been an island team, and they worked together well. Their job was to form an immediate line of defense against any problem that might present itself during the game, and, in the event that nothing went terribly wrong, to deliver the Best Kill Award to its appropriate location at the start of every day. For V5, that meant they had to first make a trip to the most isolated part of the coast in the middle of the night, to pick up whatever food was going with the weapons. Spence had said they were the most over-payed pizza deliverymen ever to get stiffed on a tip.
The island team had come about during V3, after Sonya raised hell about the upper echelon being sent to ferry weapons to the kids. It had been a good thing, too, since during the blackout Gordon's team had to find Rizzolo to even tell him he'd won his prize. After the debacle that cost them so many men, including the other team at the time, their V4 instructions had been different: deliver weapons and intervene as a last resort only, if action absolutely must occur right away. They'd been kept off the Polanski thing because of the required repairs; Danya had figured it best to kill two birds with one stone, and Gordon had been thrilled to, once again, sit out the real action, no matter how much Spence and Adrian had groused about it. They were both slightly more soldier than he, both had a little of that battle lust left in them, or at least the capacity to get bored after two weeks bumming around an island. Gordon just wanted to enjoy the scenery.
V5 was same old. They all had tracking devices to make sure they were never near any of the kids. They wore camouflage to keep from being spotted from a distance if they screwed up their lines of sight. They kept to the Danger Zones most of the time. Avoiding detection was only even a mild challenge on the first day, when there were no places guaranteed to stay free of kids, and they had to really plan their exit strategies. Now, it was a lot of sitting back and relaxing.
Today would be especially good. The guy on the boat had brought lasagna for the Best Kill kid, and also for Gordon's crew. He'd also promised to make sure that there would be a dry place Danger Zoned, which was important because Gordon was almost positive it was going to rain. So now, they were just making their way towards town, ready for another day in paradise.
TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012: UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, 9AM
"Good morning, kids."Tracen's voice was the same as ever but today he actually felt that calm he projected. Whatever he'd been afraid of, whatever impending disaster had seemed to be looming, it hadn't come to pass. Things had quieted down. There had been a few rough spots, according to security, but none of them were connected. He tried to keep himself on edge, to keep from becoming complacent, but it was difficult, and in this moment, he gave up the struggle, just until the announcements were done.
He took a sip of his coffee and continued.
"You've had another decent day, though a good number of those responsible for that aren't around anymore to reap the rewards. It's what happens as the game goes on. Let their errors be a lesson to the rest of you trying to make it home.
"And, speaking of errors attempting to get home, let's start with a doozy. A short while before our last announcement, Karen Idel, Gavin Hunter, Cyrus White, and Megan Emerson tried to get their collars off. I'll spare you the details and just say it was a partial success, in that they no longer have collars. Unfortunately for them, they also lost their necks.
"Sophie McDowell and Alexander de Gaulle both fell prey to a grenade thrown by Summer Simms. Ms. Simms didn't get away with it this time, though, being put down by Mara Montalvo.
"Yukiko Sakurai expired a good while after having her head smacked against a truck by Jenna Rhodes. Just goes to show that you should be careful how you handle your friends. They can break easily.
"Ami Flynn demonstrated much the same, when she bludgeoned Sara Corlett to death. Not how I'd use a gun, but it got the job done all the same.
"Bianca Howard fell victim to Theodore Fletcher, in one final hurrah. He then ran off and got himself killed in a showdown with Hansel Williams, our favorite cowboy. Happy Trails, Mr. Fletcher; maybe if you'd tried some tactics you could've walked away from this.
"Which brings us to Lana Torres, killed in ambush by Katarina Konipaski. Good use of a choke point, Ms. Konipaski. It was impressive enough, even if Ms. Torres didn't get a chance to return fire.
"Another who went out with a wimper was Brianna Battaglia, who took too many pills and went to sleep. That's called natural selection, folks.
"Michelle Wexler spent a long time trying to get people to lay down and die with her. In the end, though, Eliza Patton decided that wasn't for her, and and sent Wexler into the great beyond by herself.
"Paulo Abbate went for a trip of his own, when he provoked Ian Williams. Williams hurled him off the overpass, and he landed hard. Easy ten count and out.
"Traivs Webster chopped up Edgar Tolstoff, threatening to kill his sister the whole time. Well, I'm sorry to tell you, Mr. Webster, that Stacy Ramsey beat you to the punch, gunning down Katarin Tolstoff and Miranda Millers while they were sitting around having a chat.
"Finally, in between Mr. Webster's horror film and Ms. Ramsey's rampage, Jesse Jennings got his hands on a loose collar. It didn't turn out so well for him, though. Bombs are dangerous, kids. Don't play with them. They're liable to go off in your hands.
"It's pretty grey out there, so you'll all want to hustle for shelter. Just don't try to find it in the School Buildings, the Aviary, the Homestead, the Southern Town, Central Park, the Northern Coast, or the Woodlands, still off limits from yesterday.
"There's a slight exception for Hansel Williams, who can make his way to the School Grounds for a heaping tray of lasagna and a gun. They're in one of the buses.
"Everyone else, keep up the good work, and try to stay dry. I'll talk to some of you tomorrow."
DAY SIX: TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012
Weather: The rain is back during the early part of the day, and more strongly than before. From about six in the morning until one in the afternoon, there is moderate to heavy rain, with the hardest burst coming right at noon. A cold wind blows throughout the island. Temperatures are down, with a high of 61F, 16C at 4pm. Tonight is one night after the new moon. The sixth announcement will come at 9 AM on June 20.
Congrats to Mimi for winning this month's BDA! Threads for quote selection will be up presently.
And, as always, the rolls:
1. Gwen O'Conner (Espional)
2. Ian Valmont (Zorbax)
3. Chase Rodriguez (Vyse President)
4. Virgil Jefferson-Davis (BROseidon) - Cassandra Black (BROseidon, Swap Card used)
5. Cassidy Kant (LocoBroJoe)
6. Oscar Trig (Maraoone)
7. Sunshine "Sunny" Cho Lee (Namira)
Three days for cards and DZs, and a further seven for deaths. If Ian goes terminal (which seems highly likely), staff will handle his death.